AUBURN HILLS -- Before Andre Drummond ever played a minute for the Detroit Pistons, fans hoped to see him in the starting lineup alongside Greg Monroe.

Piston fans imagined Monroe and Drummond being the frontcourt of the future.

Of course the Pistons organization wanted to bring Drummond along slow and make him earn his minutes.

Based upon his recent play, coming along slow is not in Drummond's plans. While far from a finished product, Drummond has proven to be an impact player as of late.

Advertisement

Drummond had 15 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and a steal in a career-high 31 minutes Wednesday. Drummond's energy helped the Pistons rally from down 20-plus to pull within three in the final minute against Golden State.

Detroit's comeback ultimately fell short, but Drummond opened some eyes with his dunks, offensive rebounds and blocked shots.

"That's one of the biggest assets I bring to the team this year," Drummond said of his energy. "Offensively I know I'm not all there. I know defensively I bring my effort, energy every day and it's going to help me move forward."

Frank understands fans want to see Drummond play more, but his main objective is to win games.

"Unless you're an organization that says, 'All we're doing is playing the young guys, it's not about winning. It's totally just about these guys playing,' then that's one thing," Frank said. "If your goal is to try to win, then your loyalty is to winning. In terms of what it takes.

"Just because you throw a guy out there for 30 minutes, that could be the worst thing you could do because it may reinforce all the bad habits. If he's not doing what he should be doing and he's not giving the effort, if he's not following your priniciples, not following the gameplan and you're playing him? How can you look at the guys in your locker room and say you're about the right things? You can't. You can't have a double standard with it. For us it's both. You can both develop players and try to win."

As good as Drummond has looked, the guys in front of him Jason Maxiell and Greg Monroe are playing well.

Monroe is one of the team's franchise players and leads the team in points (15.4 per game) and rebounds (9.6 per game). Of course nobody is calling for Monroe to move to the bench.

Eight-year veteran Maxiell, who is the final year of his contract, is the one people are hoping to see move to the bench. But Maxiell is averaging career-highs in points (8.7), rebounds (6.5) and blocks (1.6).

If Drummond continues to progress then he will likely get more minutes and he could possibly earn a spot in the starting lineup. But don't expect Frank to rush anything.

"Our thing is we're going to take this very slowly," Frank said. "Just evaluate him on an every day basis. I think when Andre plays with effort and energy ... he's a game-changer. He brings length, athleticism and size we don't have on our roster. That being said, he's going to make, like every young player, his share of mistakes. But the way you overcome it is with your effort and energy.

"We don't get caught up into the numbers because there's a whole lot more to the game than the numbers. I think Andre's done very, very well. We're very happy with his progress. We obviously think the best is yet to come. He's got a whole lot more to his game. That's part of the reason when you draft him you say, 'Hey look, this is a long-term commitment.' "

Wednesday's loss snapped Detroit's five-game home winning streak. The Pistons will conclude a three-game homestand when they host the Chicago Bulls Friday.

The Bulls are 9-8 this season and currently in first place in the Central Division.

Chicago is without former league MVP Derrick Rose, who continues to recover for a torn ACL he suffered in the playoffs last season.

The Bulls are also without former Pistons Richard Hamilton, who is out with a foot injury.

Luol Deng has stepped up his scoring in Rose's absence and is averaging 18.2 points per game. Chicago also feature the talented frontcourt of Carlos Boozer (13.5 points and 9.9 rebounds) and Joakim Noah (13.0 points and 10.1 rebounds).

Dave Pemberton covers the Pistons for The Oakland Press. Email him at dave.pemberton@oakpress.com and follow him on Twitter @drpemberton.